Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Ludwig Wittgenstein
Benediction Classics,
Oxford
2017
"Philosophy ought really to be written only as a form of poetry." (Ludwig Wittgenstein)
Introduction
"No mind? No matter.
No matter, then never mind."
Bertrand's ancestry
animates Ludwig's regret:
Russell and Moore don't get it.
Preface
The Latin title
was written on the blackboard
(back when they used them).
He was not the only one
aroused to do it better.
1. The World Is Everything That Is The Case
To be or not be
the case is not the question.
Being in the world
is not the answer either.
It's best to stick with the facts.
2. What Is The Case, The Fact, Is The Existence Of Atomic Facts
Despite what you do,
there is no picture that is
a priori true.
What makes 'representation'
possible is not pictured.
3. The Logical Picture Of The Facts Is The Thought
Logical syntax
is the early harbinger
of the later claim
that grammar tells us what kind
of object anything is.
4. The Thought Is The Significant Proposition
All philosophy
consists in Russellian
critique of language.
This critical beginning
ends in practical silence.
5. Propositions Are Truth-Functions Of Elementary Propositions
Metaphysical
subjectivity merely
limits the meaning
of the psychological.
Pure realism makes sense.
6. The General Form Of A Truth-Function Is [p, ξ, N(ξ)]
This philosophy
is simply nonsensical.
Resolute reading
requires austerity,
humility, and humor.
7. Whereof One Cannot Speak, Thereof One Must Be Silent
"Either let your speech
be better than silence, or
simply be silent."
So says Dionysius
the old Areopagite.
“Now that my ladder's gone
I must lie down where all the ladders start
In the foul rag and bone shop of the heart.”
(W.B. Yeats)
